Australian Open 2016: Azarenka's goal not to fit in, but to stand out

It is not every day that a sports reporter interviews an elite tennis player who is also a published writer, one with a monthly Sports illustrated column to bring her own perspective to this global game. In her day job as a dual Australian Open champion, Victoria Azarenka regrets that her thoughts do not translate to the printed word as well she would like, and nor do they provide the same insight into her world as she thinks her columns can.

What question would the keen part-time scribe ask herself, then, if she was in the interviewer's chair? "It depends," Azarenka says. "I've been asking people 'what would they really want to know?' And 'what would I be interested in knowing?' It's not so much 'what would I want to ask myself'.

Back on top: Victoria Azarenka is the second favourite to win the women's Australian Open title. Photo: AP

"Just real stuff. Not just 'oh how did your match go?' That [leads to] pretty basic answers and I don't feel it goes deep enough, so I want to really start to talk about some interesting issues that have never been talked about."

Such as? "Being a female athlete compared to a male athlete. It's a huge difference and nobody really realised that and covered that."

Which may not strictly be the case, but the former world No.1 could certainly bring an interesting voice to the sports gender conversation. Azarenka says she is still marshalling her thoughts on "such a huge subject", but would like to canvass non-tennis athletes, and compare their experiences with her own.

She says she doubts people realise the extent of the challenges and difficulties female athletes face. "Not that you want to feel bad for women but it's an interesting subject, and it would be fun to write about that." At which point, we feel compelled to note how fortunate female tennis players are, compared with most other sportswomen, in terms of prizemoney and profile, for starters.

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"Well, that's just money," says an athlete whose official tournament earnings stand at more than $37 million. "I know for a lot of people it's really important and everything, and makes your life easier, and you can say 'hey, well why don't you tell that to people somewhere in Africa who have no money and say money doesn't buy happiness', but the difference between making millions and making thousands I don't think it's that big on your mental state and your mental health.

"But you are right, we are way more fortunate than the previous ladies and champions [who] have been fighting to have equality in women's sports. It's absolutely tremendous and I will always support that, but I think women's equality is a huge issue for women in general, women in life and it's a really interesting subject. Women's empowerment, you can see how much it's rising, and when we talk about being a feminist it's not just trying to do everything by yourself but you want to be recognised for your qualities, not just be recognised because you're a woman."

This, clearly, is not a typical tennis interview, but one that goes to unexpected places. The start was less forthcoming, covering such areas as Azarenka's pre-season (more about the body than the tennis), her health and longstanding foot injury ("it's a question I get asked all the time, and I don't know how to answer it"), her 2016 goals ("I don't say my goals. I think it's the best way for me"). OK, right, then.

By the end, subjects had included the hurt caused by haters on social media to a personal creative bent that has moved from painting to interior decorating and an edgy new YouTube video featuring street art and motorbikes. The perils and pitfalls of honesty. Her newfound ability to love herself, embrace her flaws and, as she likes to put it, "not give a crap" about what others think. The pain and bravery of discussing her past battle with depression.

Certainly, these have been two difficult years for the 26-year-old, who dipped to 48th in the rankings last February, but started this season with an 18th career title at the depleted Brisbane International to earn strong second favouritism for the Australian Open behind top seed Serena Williams.

While there are many question marks surrounding the women's field, there are few about Azarenka's record at Melbourne Park, where the 2012-13 champion has a strong 35-8 record. Yet, as the 14th seed and tournament second favourite drawn to open against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck on Tuesday, Azarenka insists that where she used to be is not where she is trying to go, as she wants to make herself better than she was before.

She deflects questions about whether it is harder to be where she is now - at to No.16 - considering where she was, on the basis that she gives no thought to the past or the future, only the now. She is more forthcoming on the subject of her current coaching team of Wim Fissette and hitting partner Sascha Bajin, replacements for long-time mentor Sam Sumyk. "I have a new energy, a new motivation around me," Azarenka says. "I'm glad to be working with people who are around the same level emotionally as me and want to have fun, want to do good, just happy people."

Yet Azarenka also acknowledges that if she paid attention to those who perceive or treat her differently now her star has fallen slightly, she would notice that was the case "a little bit". Which does not concern a pragmatic Belarusian who says her family and friends' judgment is more important, and "has nothing to do with me being No.1 or being whatever. I believe in myself. I'm a good tennis player, I want to be a great tennis player. And results is something that I think you get judged [by] but it doesn't define you."

Nor does social media, clearly, although that, too, can be difficult to ignore. Some of it hurts. Of course it does. "I mean, it's not easy to read that stuff. It's not. The difference is how much you hurt. If you're confident in yourself and what you do, and you know what you're doing, it's OK. But you can't say: 'Oh, I don't care about that'. Nobody likes to hear bad stuff about yourself."

More SI column fodder, perhaps, and Azarenka says she has many topic ideas. Many. She also likes to surprise those who would presume to know one of the more forthright, emotional, and polarising characters in the game.

"Not many people know me, the real me, they just see what I am on the tennis court," she says. "I fight on the tennis court, I cuss, I dance, I'm just a rebel, whatever, but I am a really deep person, and I love to cover a lot of different subjects, so I found an outlet for me to show the real side of me.

"Like the video I created. I directed it, we wrote a script, we wrote music with a friend of mine, so it's all me. I'm doing me. Not many people have maybe courage or creativity enough to do that, but I want to bring a new type of athlete to the world, to the tennis world. I think we're missing a bit of personalities, a difference of personalities, excitement of personalities."

Is that because people are afraid to be seen to be different, lest they be judged or scorned? "I think it's a huge problem with social media right now. It's just so easy to be criticised, but if you pay attention to that, you will never be great. You will just try to fit in, and I don't want to fit in, I want to stand out."